fun with books

3:43 pm

Mon June 3, 2013

The Seattle Public Library says it has shattered the world record for the longest book-domino chain.

Two college students teamed up with the library to coordinate a winding chain of 2,131 books with the help of 27 volunteers who consumed 112 slices of pizza during the seven-hour process last Friday, according to the library.

The first four tries brought heartbreaking glitches, including the fourth try failing "about 10 books short of finishing", according to Amy Twito, the library's youth program manager.

Other News

5:00 am

Tue January 22, 2013

Are you the person with a neat pile of library books on your bedside table? Or maybe you're a screen person with electronic copies of the latest e-books. Whether your preference is traditional print or digital, a new report says libraries won't be giving up the old for the new but that doesn't mean they won't add some bells and whistles.

Libraries

5:08 pm

Wed January 2, 2013

Starting January 6, every branch of the Seattle Public Library will be open on Sundays. Library officials said it’s the first time in at least 100 years.

The extra hours come courtesy of Seattle voters, who approved a 7-year, $122 million property tax levy in August. The new money reverses years if cutbacks, and will allow every library location to open its doors from 1:00 to 5:00 Sunday afternoons. Library programs director Stephanie Chase said it’s gratifying to be adding services for a change instead of scaling them back.

Seattle public libraries are closed this week, in an effort to cope with budget cuts. That inspired some locals to take matters into their own hands, establishing a temporary, outdoor “People’s Library.”

This is the fourth year Seattle libraries have taken a furlough week to save money, stranding would-be readers, internet users and stir-crazy parents. Among the exasperated were University of Washington graduate student Yates Coley and her friends.

Seattle is renowned for its public libraries – and for people who love them.

Twelve years ago, the city's voters approved the “Libraries for All” levy and pumped nearly $200-million dollars into the system, to upgrade branches and build a new central library downtown. At the time, it was the largest bond measure ever passed for a library levy, anywhere in the country.

Now, Seattle is going back to voters with Proposition 1 on the August ballot. And it might be the first time some library-lovers are saying ‘not so fast.’

Seattle has always been a city that likes to read. But if the Seattle Public Library's growing e-book collection and its high usage is any indication, even more people are reading more books. And, we're also outpacing New York.

The Seattle Public Library now has just over 100,000 digitized books compared to the New York Public Library which has about 88,000.

“Mommy, what’s that?” Normally an innocent question from a child … unless you’re at a Seattle Public Library!

Libraries around the country are frequently troubled by the conflict of your First Amendment right to view “protected speech” and others who just have to watch pornography in a public library setting.

The most recent publicly exposed incident in Seattle occurred at the Lake City branch of the Seattle library system. Julie Howe said in a public email that her 10-year-old daughter was disturbed after looking over the shoulder of a man last month as he watched pornography at the branch.

Was it justified when Amazon.com and the big credit card companies pulled the plug on Wikileaks? Did it hurt the free flow of information, or advance important dialogue about world affairs? A discussion in Seattle this evening will dive into those questions.